To a billion people around the world surviving on just a dollar a day, the question of what to eat tonight is more about life and death than about recipes. The struggle of poor people around the globe weighs heavily on me, especially now that I am a mother, which is why I work with Oxfam. Giada De Laurentiis Read Quote
Don’t expect too much from yourself. What I like to do when I have a day off is make various cookie doughs and freeze them. Then I always have that on hand if I need it. Giada De Laurentiis Read Quote
My family truly believes they are better cooks than I am. They see me as Giada, not as a celebrity chef. To them I’m just me – their granddaughter, niece, etc., and they’re older and wiser. I like that because it keeps you grounded. Giada De Laurentiis Read Quote
Every time I think I have something under control, it changes and I don’t have it under control. I think it takes several years to get there. Jade is 19 months old, so right now I’m on alert all the time. And as a mom I think you’re constantly worrying about things. Giada De Laurentiis Read Quote
Cooking for me is a way to wind down. It’s different from cooking on camera, where you have to do everything twice, for a wide shot and a close-up. Giada De Laurentiis Read Quote
I think children learning to cook can be such a wonderful thing. It can help build confidence, make them feel good about themselves. It helped me build my ego and even start to get acceptance at school. I’d bring things to class that I’d cooked at home. Giada De Laurentiis Read Quote
Stock up your pantry and your freezer with things that aren’t perishable: Your favorite jar of tomato sauce that lists ‘tomato’ as the first ingredient, lots of grains, olive oils, vinegars, tomato pastes, onions, shallots. When you go to the store, you only have to pick up meats and produce. Giada De Laurentiis Read Quote
These days it’s cool to be ethnic and to be different, but when I was a kid, it was not cool – at all. My friends would come over and my mom would make crepes with eggs, stuffed with mozzarella cheese, tomatoes and spinach. And they’d be like, ‘What is this?’ Giada De Laurentiis Read Quote
I’m actually a very shy person, which is why I always chose to be in the kitchen. You can make people happy and entertain them, without really being there. You can make a very short appearance and then say, ‘I’ve got something on the stove, gotta go!’ Giada De Laurentiis Read Quote
I think it can be hard for any man to sometimes be upstaged by his wife. So when I’m home, I work very hard to be Todd’s wife and Jade’s mother. I have no problem going back to those traditional roles. I try to be Giada, the young girl that he met 20 years ago and fell in love with. Giada De Laurentiis Read Quote
